


Fleet Week

by WitticasterCole



Series: Strays [1]
Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enthusiastic Consent, Explicit Consent, First Time, Loss of Virginity, M/M, One Night Stands, Size Difference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 03:46:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15621843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitticasterCole/pseuds/WitticasterCole
Summary: While studying at Bragganhyl Academy, Aloth meets a hot sailor.





	Fleet Week

**Author's Note:**

> So Aloth's personal timeline post-Awakening is nebulous at best and I was really committed to this dumb fic idea, so let's say elves have to go to school for 30 years before they can be arcane knights. I also can't find any information on when elves reach maturity, but Aloth is very definitely an adult here.
> 
> Content warning for mentions of Aloth's terrible, terrible father.
> 
> Thanks to [peardita](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peardita/) for betaing this despite knowing nothing about _Pillars of Eternity_ and having to read a 500-word crash course on it.

Gods _damn_ Ymir.

It was Ymir's brilliant idea to go drinking down at the docks in the first place, and he'd insisted on dragging Aloth with him. It was only once they'd arrived that Aloth realized the _Lucky Break_ , a merchant galleon, was departing tomorrow morning. And that meant every tavern in the district was packed with sailors eager to get their last bit of drinking and debauchery in before they headed back out to sea.

And _that_ meant that, once Ymir had grown bored of Aloth perpetually deflecting his advances, he'd swanned off to flirt with every nautically-minded kith in sight.

Aloth huddled at the far end of the bar, nursing a glass of wine and wishing he'd brought a book. If he was stuck here until Ymir was ready to leave, he could at least get some studying in. To make matters worse, something about the situation—perhaps the promise of alcohol and bad decisions—had drawn Iselmyr to the surface, and it was taking a great deal of effort to keep her suppressed.

A shoulder collided with his as one of the sailors stepped up to the bar.

"Excuse me," Aloth snapped, a touch more harshly than the situation warranted.

The sailor—human, powerfully built, with a rather impressive scar curling up one side of his face and a complexion that suggested anger management issues—stiffened and turned to glare at him. Aloth's fingers tightened around his wineglass.

"What was that?" the sailor snarled. His accent suggested he was from Readceras, or possibly the Dyrwood.

Aloth clenched his teeth, biting back the acid comment that lurked at the back of his throat. "Nothing. Never mind."

The sailor squinted and looked him up and down, no doubt taking in Aloth's... well, everything, really. "Slumming it, are we?" he jeered. "Come down to gawk at the rabble?"

"Gawkin' at the state of yer face, more like," Iselmyr snapped before Aloth could stop her.

The sailor's expression darkened from sneering amusement to pure rage. Aloth shrunk back, the words of a spell coming to his lips. It wouldn't be fast enough to stop the first blow, but—

A large hand clamped down on the back of the sailor's neck and slammed him face-first into the bar, pinning him there.

"Now, now, Derwyn," said a low, rumbling voice with an accent Aloth couldn't place. "We've talked about starting fights with the locals."

Aloth's savior was tall, for a human, and young: in his early twenties at the oldest. His face—the phrase "ruggedly handsome" popped into Aloth's head—was framed by chestnut hair worn longer than most human men preferred, with the barest shadow of a beard growing in along his jaw.

The sailor—Derwyn—snarled something incoherent and possibly profane; his captor's grip tightened until the snarl ended abruptly with a squeak. The stranger leaned closer, almost whispering into Derwyn's ear.

"First things first," he said, with playful menace. "Apologize to the nice young man."

Derwyn glanced up at Aloth and mumbled something vaguely contrite.

"Right," the stranger said. "I'm going to let you up now, Derwyn. And if you're still itching for a fight, I'd be happy to kick your ass from one end of this bar to the other."

He relaxed his grip; Derwyn immediately wrenched himself away and took a few steps back from the bar. He glared at the other man for a few moments, then turned on his heel and marched away.

The stranger shrugged and moved into the spot Derwyn had vacated. "Sorry for interrupting," he said, propping one elbow up on the bar with a wry grin. "I'm sure you could've handled Derwyn yourself, but I'd rather not explain to the captain why I let a wizard smear my crewmate across the floor."

"That's quite all right," Aloth said, flustered, then blinked as the rest of that sentence caught up with him. "How did you know—?"

"Ah, well, there were a few subtle clues that only a keen eye would notice." The stranger leaned in, lowering his voice. "Such as the fact that your friend's been telling everyone you're both students at Bragganhyl Academy."

"Right." The corner of Aloth's mouth twitched into a brief smile.

Almost as an afterthought, the stranger said, "I'm Finn, by the way."

"Aloth." He couldn't figure out why Finn was still here; surely they were far past the measure of small-talk warranted for this kind of situation.

"Can I buy you a drink, Aloth?"

Ah. There it was.

Aloth bit his lip, shrinking back a little. "Well. I—"

Finn's eyes tracked to the nearly-full glass in Aloth's hand. "Or something to eat, maybe? You don't seem like much of a drinker."

"I'm... not." So Finn wasn't trying to get him drunk. Aloth relaxed. "Thank you."

Finn flagged down the barmaid; before long, a stein of ale landed on the bar in front of them, followed by two plates of... something. Something deep-fried. And at least marginally edible, judging by the way Finn immediately popped a piece of it into his mouth.

After grabbing one of the plates and his ale, Finn turned back to Aloth. "It's a bit quieter up on the balcony, if you'd like to join me."

Aloth scanned the bar. Ymir was off at one of the tables, trailing his finger down the chest of an aumaua deckhand. And the other sailors seemed to be avoiding Finn—a compelling reason to stay as close to him as possible, at least until Ymir was ready to leave.

"Yes," Aloth said. "Quiet would be... nice."

The balcony was indeed quieter, with low tables and various pieces of lounge furniture scattered around the area. Aloth could see the entire tavern from up here. Finn sprawled across one end of a long couch, and Aloth perched carefully at the other end.

Finn seemed rather preoccupied with his food for the moment, so Aloth took the opportunity to study him. He was lean for someone his size—which, proportionally speaking, still made him much broader than Aloth. His shirt was unlaced and open to the sternum, revealing a touch of sunburn across his chest; a similar redness colored his nose and cheekbones. A leather thong hung around his neck, weighted by a bone pendant carved into an odd, looping, circular design.

Finn seemed utterly unapologetic about the space he occupied, lounging at the end of the couch with a confidence and ease that Aloth couldn't help but envy.

He stared for a moment too long; Finn caught him looking and winked. Aloth felt his face heat and ducked his head, staring down into his wineglass.

"So you're a sailor, then?" Aloth said, hoping to move past the incident as quickly as possible. Iselmyr was strangely quiet, which would be a blessing if she weren't much, _much_ better at talking to handsome men than he was.

Which was the source of the problem with Ymir, honestly.

"At the moment," Finn replied. "I needed a change of scenery, and hiring onto the _Lucky Break_ seemed like the fastest way to make that happen."

"Where are you from originally?" Aloth realized too late how invasive the question was; he cleared his throat and added, "If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't." Finn shrugged. "I grew up in the Living Lands."

"Really?" Aloth was staring again, but Finn didn't seem to mind. That certainly explained the accent. And the... ruggedness. "But you're so..."

"Civilized?" Finn offered with a smirk.

"I was going to say..." Aloth struggled for a moment, then gave up. "I don't know what I was going to say."

Finn, much to Aloth's relief, only chuckled. "You're cute, so I'll let it pass."

Aloth was almost certainly blushing now.

"What about you, then?" Finn asked, polishing off his food and licking the last of it off his fingers. "Are you from around here?"

Aloth took a little too long to reply, distracted by Finn's mouth and hands and how enthralling the two of them were together. "Um." He shook his head to clear it. "Unfortunately, yes."

Finn seemed perplexed by that. He leaned forward, raising an eyebrow. "'Unfortunately'?"

Aloth shrank back under the sudden attention. "I'd... rather not get into it."

"Fair enough." Finn's head cocked to the side, considering. "Where would you rather be, then?"

Aloth blinked. "... What?"

"If you could go anywhere you wanted," Finn elaborated, "where would you go?"

Aloth opened and closed his mouth, struggling for words. He hadn't really thought about it, hadn't dared to; under the crushing weight of his family's expectations and his father's frustration, all he could really hope for was _not here_.

Finn's expression shifted into something that almost looked like concern. "Didn't expect that to be a hard question."

"I don't know," Aloth finally admitted. "I—"

Ymir's laugh rang out like a bell from the floor below, startling them both. Ymir was draped across his new aumaua friend's lap; he looked up at the balcony—at Aloth—and Aloth quickly looked away.

Finn caught his eye and glanced down at Ymir. "He's trying to make you jealous, you know."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your friend," Finn explained. "Sure, he's been working the room, but his eyes have been on you all night."

"Oh, Hel." Aloth buried his face in his hands. Of course.

"I take it the attraction isn't mutual," Finn guessed.

"He's very persistent." Aloth sighed, still hidden behind both hands. "And I think some of my behavior might have... confused him."

"Well," Finn said, his voice sounding much closer than before. "I can think of one way to clear that up."

Aloth uncovered his face, and—oh.

Finn was _very_ close, leaning into Aloth's space with a slight, roguish curve to his lips. He paused, his face an inch or two away from Aloth's, and glanced down at his lips before meeting his eyes.

He was waiting for Aloth to close the distance.

It could stop there. Aloth could pull away and laugh it off as a joke. And if his conduct so far was any indication, Finn would do the same; he'd go right back to chatting with Aloth as if nothing had happened.

And that's what made Aloth want to kiss him.

He surged forward, almost pushing Finn back in his enthusiasm. The kiss was sloppy, inexperienced; this wasn't Aloth's first kiss, but it wasn't far from it either. And he'd never kissed someone with a beard before. The sensation wasn't entirely unpleasant.

Finn recovered quickly, tilting his head and deepening the kiss, slowing the frantic movement of Aloth's lips with his own. One of his large, warm hands splayed across the side of Aloth's face, long fingers tangling into his hair.

It had been so long since anyone had touched Aloth; his skin was buzzing with the sudden contact. He needed more. Aloth pushed closer, clutching at Finn's shirt and reeling him in until they were pressed chest-to-chest, Aloth straddling Finn's lap. Aloth broke away to breathe and gasped as Finn's lips trailed down his neck instead, beard scratching as he pressed a series of open-mouthed kisses against his throat.

He frowned when Finn paused and pulled away. "Finn?"

"Your friend." Finn peered over Aloth's shoulder, down into the bar below them.

Aloth groaned. "What about him?"

"He just left."

" _What?_ " Aloth jumped to his feet and bolted for the door.

He was just in time to spot Ymir at the other end of the street, his arms around the aumaua deckhand and one of his shipmates. Ymir glanced back and blew Aloth a kiss before he turned the corner and disappeared.

Iselmyr came surging to the surface and managed to let out an impressive string of profanity before Aloth managed to push her back down.

"Wow," Finn said from behind him. "I didn't know you had it in you."

Aloth rubbed his temples, sighed, and turned. Finn leaned against the tavern doorway, arms crossed, expression caught between amusement and concern.

"Should we go after him?" Finn asked.

"No," Aloth muttered. Whatever plans Ymir had for the rest of the evening obviously didn't include Aloth, which was something of a relief. However... "We were supposed to walk back to the dormitories together. I suppose I'm going alone, now."

"That hardly seems safe." Finn pushed himself up off the doorframe. "I can walk you back, if you'd like."

"I—" Aloth glanced over Finn's shoulder, at the revelry he seemed happy to abandon. "Are you sure?"

"It's half my fault your friend ran out on you." Finn patted him on the arm; the sudden contact made Aloth flush at the memory of what they'd been doing moments before. "Besides, I already paid our tab. The barmaid got nervous when you bolted for the door."

"... Sorry."

Finn shrugged and waited for Aloth's answer.

Aloth took a deep breath. He really wasn't looking forward to walking through the docks district this late at night—and he didn't want to think about what Iselmyr would do if anyone accosted him on the way.

"All right," he said. "Thank you."

֍

The walk back to the dormitories passed in easy silence. Finn's presence at Aloth's side felt... comfortable. Not _protective_ , exactly, nothing so overbearing, just... safe.

Iselmyr had gone quiet again, and Aloth couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

It seemed only moments until they arrived at the Bragganhyl dormitories. Aloth paused outside the gates; Finn had stopped a few steps behind him and seemed to be studying the immense edifice of the dormitory hall.

"Right," Finn muttered, intimidated into near-silence. "That's... something."

The hall was a towering utilitarian slab of granite, little more than a warehouse for students whose parents couldn't afford cozier accommodations. Aloth knew from experience that the interior wasn't much better than the exterior; it would be a long walk through sterile, unadorned halls before he was back in his bed.

 _Gods_ , but he didn't want to make that walk alone. Not tonight.

Finn turned to leave, and Aloth reached out to grab his hand. Finn looked back at him, a slow grin creeping across his face.

֍

The grin stayed as Aloth led Finn up the stairs to his room. The halls were mercifully empty, but Aloth nevertheless hurried through them as quickly and quietly as possible, hand still clasped in Finn's.

His mother had helped him secure a single-occupancy room at the end of the hall—all the better for hiding Iselmy'rs myriad indiscretions. The moment they were inside, the door safely shut behind them, Aloth pushed Finn up against it and kissed him again.

Finn seemed content to be shoved around, simply looping his arms around Aloth's waist and tightening his grip when Aloth pushed closer, until they were pressed together from chest to thigh.

Once again, Finn countered Aloth's frantic need with careful patience. Aloth moaned into the kiss, then gasped as Finn bit gently at his lower lip. It was only once Aloth felt hard muscle press against his groin that he realized he'd straddled one of Finn's rather impressive thighs.

Which meant he was rubbing his erection against Finn's leg. Aloth flushed with embarrassment, only to flush with a completely different emotion when he realized Finn was in a similar state. Finn rolled his hips, deliberately rocking his thigh up against Aloth's groin; his hands drifted lower, pushing up under the hem of Aloth's tunic and toying experimentally with the waistband of his breeches.

Aloth pulled away, panting for breath. Finn's hands immediately moved back up to the small of Aloth's back as his grip relaxed.

"So..." Aloth took a breath to steady himself, although that was admittedly difficult with Finn's thigh still pressed between his legs. "You should know that I've never done this before."

Finn raised an eyebrow. "'This' being...?"

Aloth groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. "Sex."

"Ah." One of Finn's hands moved to Aloth's face, tilting his chin up. Aloth opened his eyes; there was no judgment in Finn's gaze, only soft concern. "Do you want to?"

" _Yes_ ," Aloth breathed, without hesitation.

"Good." Finn smiled and kissed Aloth, just a quick brush against his lips, before moving to whisper into his ear. "Where would you like to start?"

Aloth whimpered and shut his eyes again, fists clenched in Finn's shirt. "I want..." Possibilities swirled in his mind, dizzying, tantalizing. First things first. "I want you naked on my bed."

"That can be arranged." Finn gently detached Aloth's grip from his shirt and stripped it off. His boots and trousers went next, and he brushed past Aloth to lay back on the bed.

Finn was certainly strapping, but his was a body built for survival rather than sculpted to aesthetic perfection. Scars marked his skin—furrows that looked like they were carved by animal claws, scratches of mysterious origin, and a rather alarming puncture wound right above his hip.

And then there was the very obvious indication of Finn's arousal. Aloth was still partially convinced that it was impolite to look.

He must've been standing there, staring, for too long; Finn quirked an eyebrow at him and said, "Well?"

Aloth swallowed the lump in his throat and rushed across the (admittedly small) intervening space, crawling up onto the bed with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm, if Finn's gentle huff of a laugh was any indication.

While the privacy of the room was a luxury, the bed was still tiny; there was barely enough room for the both of them. Aloth wound up half-sprawled across Finn's body, hovering nervously, unsure what to do next.

Kissing. Kissing had gone well so far. Aloth leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Finn's; Finn opened up under him, moaning as the kiss turned sloppy, _hungry_. Mimicking Finn's movements at the tavern, Aloth trailed his lips across Finn's jaw and down his neck, hands stroking over his chest and shoulders, exploring everything Finn had offered him.

One of Finn's hands came up to rest at the back of Aloth's head, but Finn didn't push, instead tangling his fingers in Aloth's hair once again. Aloth continued downward, mapping the impressive muscle of Finn's chest with his lips and tongue, but stalled out once he reached his waist.

Aloth was hardly an innocent. He knew what generally happened next, but he wasn't quite sure how to get there.

Finn seemed to sense his hesitation; the hand on Aloth's head guided him back up to Finn's mouth as he sat up, his other hand toying with the belt holding Aloth's tunic in place.

"May I?" he asked, voice and eyes soft.

Aloth nodded.

The tunic came off easily enough, but removing Aloth's breeches was a more difficult endeavor. The shuffling and squirming quickly had the both of them giggling uncontrollably, and Aloth barely noticed he was naked until Finn leaned down and pressed a kiss right below Aloth's navel.

Aloth froze, and Finn glanced up with a questioning look in his eyes.

Again, Aloth nodded.

Finn pushed Aloth to lie back before he leaned down and took the head of Aloth's cock into his mouth.

A high-pitched, gasping whine left Aloth's throat without his permission. Finn immediately pulled back, eyes wide in concern, but Aloth grabbed frantically at his head and shoulders in a feeble, flailing attempt to push him back down.

Finn got the hint and chuckled as he lowered his mouth back onto Aloth's cock. Aloth's hips bucked, but Finn seemed to anticipate that, pulling back slightly before sliding his lips further down, wrapping his hand around what his mouth couldn't reach. Aloth's cock was enveloped in soft, warm heat, and he tipped his head back and moaned.

The whole floor could probably hear him, but Aloth couldn't manage to care.

Finn bobbed his head, swirling his tongue up and down Aloth's cock, hand stroking gently around the base. Aloth was lost to sensation, squirming and whimpering, clutching at the sheets beneath him until Finn's free hand reached up and tangled their fingers together.

He was so close, so close already, and that really wouldn't do. Aloth reached down with his free hand and tugged gently on Finn's hair. Finn moaned—oh, _that_ was something to remember—and pulled off Aloth's cock.

"Aloth?" Finn asked quietly, cautiously.

"I want—" Aloth panted, catching his breath, struggling for a way to tell Finn what he needed _right now_. "I want _you_ , I want—"

Finn crawled up the bed, moving over Aloth's body, and leaned down to whisper in his ear again. "Do you want me to fuck you?"

" _Yes_ ," Aloth gasped out. "Gods, yes."

Finn grinned and leaned over the edge of the bed to retrieve something from his trousers. When he returned, he had a small vial of oil in his hand.

Aloth's eyebrows shot up. "You had that with you all night?"

Finn shrugged. "Last night in port." He moved over Aloth again to kiss him. "Anything might happen."

Aloth laughed into the kiss, losing himself in it until Finn started to circle slick fingers around his hole. He tensed, and Finn pulled back.

"Still okay?" he asked.

"Yes," Aloth said with a nod. "It's just... new."

Finn smiled and pressed their mouths together again. "Relax," he said, between slow, heated kisses. "Tell me if it hurts, and I'll stop."

Aloth was developing a strong suspicion that he wasn't the first virgin Finn had despoiled.

He distracted himself from that chain of thought by kissing Finn, stroking up and down his back. His hands brushed over even more scars, and Aloth found himself running his fingers along them, skipping from one to the next.

Then Finn pushed his finger inside, and Aloth gasped.

"Okay?" Finn asked, so close that his breath washed over Aloth's face.

Aloth nodded, speechless, pulling Finn back down to his lips. It didn't hurt, but it felt... _big_. The stretch was new and intense, and that was just from a finger. Aloth trailed his fingers down to wrap around Finn's cock, gauging its size, and... well.

It would be an endeavor.

Finn groaned into Aloth's mouth and pushed the second finger in, sliding both in and out of Aloth's hole, and that was... _different_. The third stretched him even further, just brushing the edge of pain, and Aloth realized he'd stopped kissing Finn and instead pressed their foreheads together.

"Please," he whimpered. "Please, please, _please_."

"Anything you want," Finn said, and withdrew his fingers.

He grabbed Aloth around the waist, and there was a moment of disorientation as Finn leaned back until Aloth was the one on top. Finn stroked Aloth's hipbones with his thumbs, settling him right over his cock.

"Okay?" he asked.

Aloth's nervousness faded a little. He nodded.

"Good," Finn said. He reached down to press his cock against Aloth's hole. "Take your time."

Aloth took a steadying breath before he lowered himself onto Finn's cock. It breached him a little too quickly, and Aloth whimpered, freezing in place, arms trembling as he braced himself against Finn's chest.

"Easy," Finn warned, and aside from the fact that he was breathing a little harder than usual, he almost sounded like Aloth's old riding tutor.

There was a pun in there somewhere that Aloth refused to acknowledge.

Aloth panted for a few moments, letting himself relax, before he slid further down—slower this time, moaning at the sensation of being thoroughly filled. Finn's hands were firm on Aloth's hips, holding him up but letting him control the pace. His gaze wandered where his hands couldn't, trailing up from where they were joined to Aloth's face and back down again.

And then Aloth couldn't go any lower, seated to the hilt on Finn's cock.

One of Finn's hands released Aloth's hip and slid up his chest, finally coming to rest against Aloth's jaw. His thumb stroked against Aloth's lower lip, where his mouth hung open.

"Okay?" he asked again.

In response, Aloth drew Finn's thumb into his mouth and sucked.

Finn's breathing grew just a little bit more ragged, and his other hand tightened around Aloth's hip. "Well then. Just do whatever feels good."

Aloth wasn't quite sure what to do with that. As an experiment, he rolled his hips forward, which was... _good_ , but not quite what he needed. His thighs shook with strain when he tried lifting himself up, and the sensation was distinctly _odd_ , but then he dropped back down and couldn't suppress a moan at the feeling.

Finn's hands slid down and under Aloth's thighs, helping him move up and down his cock, and with that extra support Aloth built up a decent rhythm, greedily pushing back down every time Finn lifted him up. He tried rolling his hips again, into the motion of their bodies, and Finn's cock pressed against something that made Aloth shout; he did it again and again, heedless of the noise he was making.

Aloth's eyes were squeezed shut, his head thrown back, and it was therefore a surprise when warm fingers wrapped around his cock. Finn was still moving him with one hand, but the other was stroking him, giving him that last little push over the edge.

" _Gods_ ," Aloth moaned, tipping forward to press his mouth against Finn's as he came.

Finn's arms wrapped roughly around him, feet braced against the bed as he pounded up into Aloth, chasing his own orgasm. Aloth buried his face in Finn's neck and whimpered, delightfully overstimulated, trembling as Finn pushed inside one final time and came, groaning into Aloth's shoulder.

There was a long, quiet moment as they both caught their breath. Finn's arms loosened, and he rolled them both onto their sides so he could look Aloth in the eye.

"All right?" Finn asked.

"Perfect," Aloth replied with a weary smile.

"Never been called that before." Finn brushed a strand of hair away from Aloth's face before kissing him briefly on the forehead. "This next part won't be as pleasant. Sorry."

Aloth groaned in faint displeasure as Finn pulled out, then quickly replaced his cock with his fingers in what had to be some kind of examination. Seemingly content he hadn't wounded Aloth horribly, he withdrew his hand and lay back against the bed. Aloth immediately draped himself over Finn.

"Aloth," Finn said, faint amusement coloring his voice.

Aloth hummed a reply, eyes already drifting shut.

"Aloth," Finn tried again. "I need to get to your washbasin and clean us both up, and you're not going to like it if I don't."

Aloth grumbled and brushed his fingers down Finn's side, magic tingling at his fingertips. The sweat and... other substances covering their bodies abruptly vanished.

Finn huffed a laugh. "Don't suppose you could teach me that one."

Aloth mumbled something noncommittal and drifted off to sleep.

֍

Someone was shaking him.

Aloth woke with a start, freezing up as he took in the room around him. His room. But not his bed; he was laying on something else, something—

"Aloth?"

Right. Finn. Aloth pushed up onto his elbows and looked down at the man lying beneath him, who appeared to be wide awake and patiently waiting for him to catch up.

Finn's fingers traced Aloth's face as if studying it, committing it to memory. "I have to get back to the ship."

Ah. Of course. Aloth had known this was the case when he invited Finn up to his room; he hardly had an excuse to go crying about it now.

He could feel Iselmyr stirring, agitated, and shoved her back down.

"Right," Aloth said. "I'll just..."

He climbed awkwardly out of the bed and stood, allowing Finn past to gather up his clothes and get dressed. He kept his gaze on the window—gods knew why, since he'd already seen Finn naked—and so it was a surprise when Finn took his hand.

Aloth's head whipped around to look at Finn, who simply brushed soft lips across his fingers before turning his hand palm-up. He placed something in Aloth's hand: a pendant. _His_ pendant.

"To remember me by," he said with a soft smile.

Aloth nodded, a lump in his throat. "Thank you," he said. Not just for the pendant. He hoped Finn could tell.

Finn leaned in to press one last kiss against Aloth's lips, and then he was gone.

֍

Years passed. Certain elements of Aloth's life changed; others didn't. When the Leaden Key offered him a posting across the sea, Aloth couldn't help but brush the pendant, now hanging from a leather strap around his wrist. It was a foolish notion, and one he quickly disregarded after a few months in the Dyrwood.

Fifteen years from the night he met Finn, Aloth found himself embroiled in yet another unwanted argument—this time outside an inn in Gilded Vale.

He tried to defuse the situation with his usual tactic—plying the aggressors with drink, then fleeing while they were occupied—only for his offer to be refused. And then Iselmyr bubbled up with some choice words for the ringleader, and it only got worse from there.

As the locals closed in, a body interposed itself between them and Aloth. A _large_ body.

The aggressors were already itching for a fight, and one took a swing at Aloth's guardian. The blow was easily deflected and countered with a solid punch to the jaw. The attacker dropped to the ground, lying stunned for a moment before his friends dragged him away.

Soon, Aloth and his mysterious ally were the only ones standing in front of the inn. Some kind of gratitude was in order, but the words died in Aloth's throat as the stranger turned to face him.

"Finn?"

He'd aged—humans aged so _quickly—_ but there was still a youthful, roguish energy to him. His beard was well-trimmed, full and thick; his hair was longer, pulled back into a loose tail, and there was a hint of grey at his temples.

But his eyes were glassy, the skin under them dark and bruised with exhaustion. He swayed unsteadily on his feet, twitching occasionally as if to catch a sound he couldn't quite hear.

"Aloth?" he murmured, as if unsure he was really there.

Aloth took a step forward. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"

Finn opened his mouth to answer and instead collapsed to the ground, unconscious.


End file.
